Syrian rebels 'withdraw from Al-Haffe'

Syrian rebels withdrew on Wednesday from the besieged town of Al-Haffe and nearby villages that had been under intense shelling by regime forces for eight days, a human rights group said.

Syrian rebels withdrew from the besieged town of Al-Haffe and nearby villages that had been under intense shelling by regime forcesPhoto: Reuters

11:48AM BST 13 Jun 2012

"The rebels withdrew from Al-Haffe and the entire region at dawn in order to spare the lives of residents undergoing extremely violent shelling," said Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

In a statement, the rebel Free Syrian Army's Military Council described the retreat as a tactical move "to avoid a massacre by regime forces of Al-Haffe's remaining residents."

The rebels also evacuated "the injured, the martyrs, women and children" from the area, it said.

"The town and villages of Al-Haffe were subjected to aerial, tank and rocket bombardment, as well as a suffocating siege by regime forces and thugs," the FSA said, adding that its fighters retreated "to avoid falling into the regime's civil war trap."

Describing the area as "a disaster zone," the rebels vowed to continue fighting.

The United Nations and opposition activists had expressed fears of a massacre in Al-Haffe, if pro-government forces entered the majority Sunni Muslim town, just 16 kilometres (10 miles) from President Bashar al-Assad's mainly Alawi hometown Qardaha.

Three people were killed and dozens wounded in clashes in Al-Haffe on Tuesday, the Observatory said.

UN observers came under fire in a village near Al-Haffe on Tuesday after government supporters surrounded their vehicles as they were trying to reach the besieged town, a UN official said.

On Wednesday, two civilians were killed in the nearby Kurdish Mountain region, near the border with Turkey.